Nuclear Adventurers Cannot Be Appeased

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has once again blown the dust off the bill on the so-called completion of the Khmelnitsky NPP. But at the last moment they did not risk introducing it into the hall because there are still no votes. Well, it is quite understandable why.

Even the authors of the bill, represented by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, and it is worth noting that there are no fools among them, understand perfectly well that there will be no completion, especially in the declared three years. It will not happen in five years either. If at least one unit of the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant is completed by 2030, it will be worthy of the title of Hero of Ukraine for the implementer, without the slightest exaggeration.

It would be untrue to write that the declared construction estimates of UAH 77 billion will not be met. There is no construction estimate either. The latest estimates were made in 2018, and all processes are still measured based on figures from six years ago. The construction of any building in Ukraine has a better justification than the most expensive construction project in the country since its independence, in theory. The only thing that this law guarantees to the State Enterprise "National Atomic Energy Generating Company "Energoatom" (and the politicians pushing the project on Bankovaya Street) is that at least in the next four heating seasons, the money from the increase in tariffs for the population that went to the State Enterprise "National Atomic Energy Generating Company "Energoatom", that is, tens of billions of hryvnia, will not be used to ensure the country's energy security. It is worth noting that Moscow likes such guarantees. The authors of such a scheme are probably already entitled to some order or privilege from the Kremlin, and maybe even an apartment in Rostov. The title of Hero of Russia will not be awarded to anyone, because they will disdain to do so. No, they are not Russian agents, people just really want money, including for themselves and their loved ones. Even people who are very far from energy have noticed the endless media notifications from the curators of the project about how profitable it is, and most importantly, how feasible it is. Basically, these promises to complete the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant unit in the near future are aimed at the people's deputies, who have already prevented this scam from being pushed through parliament several times since April 2024.

In addition to fixing the fictitious amount of expenses from the state budget of Ukraine, the deputy approval of the actions of the project's implementers is needed so that, if something happens, they can boldly justify themselves: "We couldn't break the law!" Like, we, of course, understood that during the war, supply chains are unstable, banks do not give loans, and there is a shortage of qualified personnel, etc. But we had the Law of Ukraine, and we, as law-abiding citizens...

In theory, thanks to the mono-majority, the scheme should have been pushed through parliament long ago. But it was already in poor condition. It took the political leaders on Bankova Street almost a year to at least get the bill through the relevant parliamentary committee on energy and housing and communal services. Moreover, its head Andrii Herus ensured the passage of this bill, but did not vote for it. After all, he is a former investment banker and knows how such a document should look. In fact, the committee directly indicated to the authors of the bill that the draft law should be revised and the necessary justifications provided. It is worth noting that none of this has been done at all in six months, but ... everything is ready for consideration. They are sadly dragging the same old thing under the dome, without changing a single letter, without adding a single number. One of the excuses, at the level of a kindergarten, is that there is a war in the country and the enemy will find out the details of the project. The joke is that they are supposed to build according to the old Russian project. They did not even try to order a new one. By the way, an attempt to keep everything secret also promises tasty good prices for the right contractors. Now eggs for 17 UAH will seem like an insignificant event. An attempt to hide behind the tragedy of the loss of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station looks disgusting... Long-term construction projects did not help the energy system in the coming years to compensate for the loss of this giant.

In general, it is possible to write a lot of numbers, but in reality, few people care about them. Everything is simpler because the scheme is based on a simple thesis: after the tariff increase, the State Enterprise "National Nuclear Energy Generating Company "Energoatom" has a resource of money. The main thing is that it needs to be quickly and correctly developed. The rest are insignificant details. By the way, a few months ago, the State Enterprise "Energoatom" literally went into hysterics when they wrote about it that thanks to the 64% increase in tariffs for the population, it could become profitable. The company issued an emotional press release that was clearly edited by the CEO himself. In it, the State Enterprise "National Nuclear Energy Generating Company "Energoatom" accused "various groups of self-proclaimed experts and the media" of speculation and... literally confirmed all their theses letter by letter. Out of politeness, this stream of consciousness was not posted on the official website of the State Enterprise "National Atomic Energy Generating Company "Energoatom".

Actually, at the very beginning they did not want to simply steal the population's funds; it was assumed that it would be possible to take a small piece from the funding streams of international aid...

We have already reported that the deal involves the purchase from Bulgaria of two Russian WCWR-1000 water-cooled reactors located there. The Bulgarians were told that a lot of money was sent to Ukraine and that it is solvent. However, everything is not quite so, or rather, as the Ambassador of the European Union to Ukraine publicly confirmed, it is not at all so. The European Union is not ready for such expenses. In addition, it is worth noting that banks are not eager to lend to projects of such quality either. Moreover, the State Enterprise "National Nuclear Power Generating Company "Energoatom" was delicately reminded that it is obliged to comply with a number of financial standards for loans from the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and even the State Savings Bank of Ukraine, or Oschadbank.

But the Bulgarians, having checked that they had a place full of untold treasures in front of them, decided to make a little money on their illiquid assets. Actually, Ukraine only needed one reactor for the third block; no one was going to build block No. 4 now. It had been flooded for decades. But they had to commit to buying both. Political leaders in Sofia understand perfectly well that there will be no second chance to sell this illiquid asset. In general, negotiations with the Bulgarians have been going on for almost two years instead of the expected two months. In addition, by the beginning of December, the Bulgarians sent the Ukrainian side the “final terms of the contract.”

After this, only two conditions remained to be finally agreed upon, namely the price of the deal and the terms of payment. Everything else, from the technical condition of the equipment to the transfer of ownership and risks, was allegedly agreed upon. And Herman Halushchenko told the Bulgarian side in mid-November that "it would take about a month... to finally formalize the financing of the implementation of this deal, after which he would submit a report to the Ukrainian parliament for approval."

Thus, after two years of bargaining, there are still some small details left: the price and where to get the money. Previously, they wanted almost a billion and not hryvnia for the reactors, Ukraine – no more than 602 million euros (640 million dollars). Now a figure of 680 million dollars flashed by, it is closer to the Ukrainian estimate, but how relevant it is unknown. The Bulgarians are in no hurry, and now they have again extended the negotiations until March 2025.

By the way, they are going to build a couple of American reactors in Bulgaria and the people's deputies will be presented with an absolutely detailed analysis and discussion of the details of the projects for consideration. Similar construction projects are planned in Poland and the Czech Republic. We recommend that our people's deputies study the experience of local parliamentarians and compare current projects with what they want to present to them. If someone does not want to go for foreign experience, then they can turn to the State Enterprise "National Atomic Energy Generating Company "Energoatom" and see how it justified the need for production of Westinghouse fuel assemblies to the district council in Pivdennoukrainsk.

It is felt that the people's deputies of the district council are respected an order of magnitude higher than those who sit on Hrushevsky Street, and they also gave ten times more data, including the construction schedule, estimate, etc. And, no, the war did not prevent them from opening them.

By the New Year (December 29), the "Analysis of options for completing the construction of power units No. 3 and No. 4 of the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant using the experience of Westinghouse", ordered from the Americans last year, should also be ready. The document, if you read it carefully, is declared closed in advance and requires the consent of the United States Government for familiarization outside of the State Enterprise "National Atomic Energy Generating Company "Energoatom". It is worth noting that it would be nice to at least show the public a summary of it. They paid UAH 37 million for the analysis, and the parliament is being asked to vote for something incomprehensible.

In general, if at least one of these blocks has a chance, they will have to make a new project and still look for funding. To begin with, it is worth calculating how much tariffs for the population should increase so that there is more "extra" money. And given the current organization of the process, the disruption of construction and dubious spending of large sums are inevitable, and the people's representatives should immediately worry about creating a temporary parliamentary special commission on this matter. This decision will not be superfluous.